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A model for predicting extragalactic jet lifetimes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2010

D. S. SPICER
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA ([email protected])
ROBERT BINGHAM
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Space Science and Technology Department, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK ([email protected]) Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G4 0NG, UK
S. O'SULLIVAN
Affiliation:
Code 931, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
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Abstract

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In this letter, we propose a model to explain the disintegration of extragalactic jets and to predict the associated timescale. The model assumes that a jet is current and charge neutral as well as collimated at its source; however, the forward electron current gradually decays producing a magnetic field transverse to the direction of jet propagation. This growing transverse magnetic field eventually causes the jet to disintegrate.

Type
Letter to the Editor
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

References

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